The invention relates to a medical apparatus and in particular a machine for extracorporeal treatment of a fluid, i.e. a patient's blood.
As is known, machines for treatment of blood, such as for example machines for treatment of kidney failure or liver insufficiency or machines for plasmapheresis, i.e. machines for other types of fluid treatment, are provided with special means for treating a fluid in general comprising appropriate sensors and actuators which enable the cited treatment to be carried out.
In general all the above-mentioned machines have in common a presence of a control unit which is destined to send control signals and to receive data from the sensors and/or actuators for monitoring and controlling the treatment.
Obviously for interaction with the machines, the operator can provide commands to the control unit, as well as view machine data and parameters in order to monitor its functioning.
To this end, usually at least a device for entering data is included which can be constituted by a keyboard, a mouse, suitable buttons and activations, or even a touch screen; there is also always a special display for visualising the data requested received from the sensors and/or relating to the actuators.
Over time, and with developments in information technology, it has also become possible to memorise and transfer a plurality of machine operating data which, if entered in a computer network, can be sent to a central server and thereafter be read, processed and analysed with the aim of improving the treatment, controlling machine functioning to make sure it is correct. It also provides the chance to compare the immense amount of data provided for reasons of research, for compiling statistics or for other purposes besides.
The type of infrastructure described above gives remote and totally passive access to machine data and patient data, i.e. it does not enable a real interaction between the remote user and the machine itself.
In order at least partially to resolve this drawback, document U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,245 teaches use of a medical apparatus in which a special device for treatment of a fluid is positioned in a first location and is able, via a dedicated modem and a special telephone line, to communicate with a remote control device which is in turn able to receive and transmit data to the medical apparatus via a corresponding modem and use of the cited telephone line.
In more detail, the medical apparatus of the prior document comprises an infusion pump which can be directly controlled by the operator in the place where the apparatus is in use, by means of a display which visualises the functioning parameters and a keyboard for entering the necessary commands.
The remote control unit is provided with a corresponding display for remote viewing of the same data relating to the medical apparatus and can be used for monitoring the operativity of the infusion pump, but also for controlling it.
In other words the remote device enables four basic functions to be carried out, comprising the control of the infusion pump, the monitoring of the pump, the transmission of data from the infusion pump to the remote control unit, as well as the viewing of the pump data on the remote device.
All of the above is carried out via a normal telephone line with a special dedicated transmission protocol which can set the medical apparatus and the control device in communication.
It can be seen how the briefly-described above device has constituted progress with respect to the simple transmission of data for a subsequent analysis without any chance of intervening from afar on the machine; however the illustrated apparatus reveals itself to be affected by some drawbacks and is susceptible to improvement under various aspects.
The devices in the prior art are in fact very poorly flexible and not sufficiently user friendly.
Also from the point of view of safety, the only effective measure is linked to the use of a dedicated protocol which reduces the risk that an unauthorised third party might take remote control of the medical apparatus, with consequent serious damage which this might lead to.
In any case the person in possession of the remote control device can intervene improperly on the medical machine.